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Updated: Aug 20, 2025

Using a Comparative Species Approach to Investigate the Neurobiology of Paternal Responses
Published on: September 19, 2011
First evidence of multiple paternity in the blue shark (Prionace glauca)
Sofía Armada-Tapia1, José Leonardo Castillo-Geniz2, Nelva Victoria-Cota1
1Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
Abstract:
Multiple paternity (MP) is defined as the behaviour in which females successfully mate with multiple males leading to offspring from different sires within the same litter. MP seems to be frequent and an evolutionary advantage in elasmobranchs. Here the authors report for the first time the occurrence of MP in the cosmopolitan blue shark Prionace glauca L. The evidence, gathered via microsatellite genotyping of pregnant females and their embryos, suggests that MP is very frequent in this species. Knowledge of MP in P. glauca should help describe more precisely its reproductive biology and contribute to the management of its populations.
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